About the usage of "so small"

Asked Apr 10 '21 at 11:06

Active Apr 10 '21 at 11:31

Viewed 27 times

Recently, I have been reading a book about TOEFL grammar. I came across this multiple-choice problem:

I have _______ money left.

(A) a great number
(B) so small
(C) only a little
(D) only a few

The answer given is (C). I don't understand why (B) is not the correct answer. Does anyone know the reason? Thank you very much.

edited Apr 10 '21 at 11:31

Edwin Ashworth

asked Apr 10 '21 at 11:06

Wei-Cheng Liu

1

'So small' isn't used directly before a noun. 'So small a fault should be overlooked.' // 'I have such a small amount of money left.' // Interestingly, 'little' is a quantifier (it also exists, of course, as an adjective) that can be used here: 'I have little money left' and with premodification 'I have so little money left'. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 10 '21 at 11:23
@EdwinAshworth Thank you very much. :-) – Wei-Cheng Liu Apr 10 '21 at 11:28
3

Does this answer your question? Difference between "little" and "small" // On a different note, I've edited your question to sound more natural. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 10 '21 at 11:29
1

To add to Edwin's comment: "Money" is an uncountable noun - uncountable nouns are graded by a quantifier that indicates amount of something. Small is not a quantifier. – Greybeard Apr 10 '21 at 11:34
1

@EdwinAshworth I will read 'Difference between "little" and "small"'. Thank you. – Wei-Cheng Liu Apr 11 '21 at 12:08
@Greybeard Thank you very much! :-) – Wei-Cheng Liu Apr 11 '21 at 12:09

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